Another cold weekend, little wonder the tits are blue...

I had hoped to be able to begin this update by conveying that we have turned a metaphorical (or perhaps, more aptly, meteorological) corner. However here in sunny Kent this morning, the skies have become ashen and snow is once again in the forecast. Not to worry; I have given myself a good, stiff talking to and promised that it won't last more than a nano-second or two. 

Let's concentrate instead on the past few days, which have been most encouraging. 

As with many of my finds, and indeed photo opportunities at this time of year, they come when out walking the dog. In fact this first find came when dog-walking somebody else's doggies: Benny, the German Shepherd, and Dotty the Jack Russell...

Walking around yet another plot of land that will soon become a building site, I spotted a square of roofing felt which I carefully lifted to reveal these little beauties...

These are quite young, female slow worms. As I am sure you know, slow worms are not snakes but legless lizards: they have the  ability to shed their tails and blink with their eyelids. These were probably still in hibernation mode and so I quickly replaced the felt, which I assume had been placed there for exactly this reason.

After last year's debacle with a neighbour's cat destroying the blue-tit nest in the garden, I have taken some measures to try and protect the nest-box this time around...

OK, so it looks a bit messy, but if it works I shall be more than happy to put up with how it looks until nesting season is done for another year. It doesn't seem to have phased the birds at all because they have already been checking out the box again...

On the front wall of the house I saw my first Salticid of the year. A little jumping spider that was sitting in the sunshine. I don't like to photograph bugs and insects in direct sunlight and so I was attempting to provide some shade with one hand, whilst taking the photo using the macro in the other, hence the shallow depth of field...

In my little work studio that is situated at the bottom of the garden, I had a visit from a rather dopey wasp. I say it was dopey: mainly because it was quite docile and also when I asked it who is the current reigning monarch, it had no answer!

In previous years Comfort's Wood (a real favourite bug-hunting area) has by mid March seen both primrose and wood anemone in flower, as well as the odd violet and green bluebell shoots. That's green shoots by the way, not green bluebells. I have often seen bee-flies in the woods too. However, this year, on a recent visit, all I could spot were the primroses...

10:05am Saturday March 17

It's okay though, are we down about the weather? Noooo.... as Dame Vera Lynn sang back in 1939: 'Keep smiling through,Just like you always do,

Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away'. 

This next discovery should be enough to put a smile on anyone's face. I had seen this animal a few times on my early morning dog walks, but it took a few tries to get even a half-decent shot, as no sooner had I spotted it, than the dog did too...

Yes, it's an albino squirrel. According to the BBC the odds of a squirrel being born white is thought to be about one in 100,000.  Only a few white squirrels are albinos, recognizable by pink or blue eyes and the absence of pigmentation anywhere on the body. The gene for such an absence of the pigment, melanin, is recessive, so each parent must carry it to produce an albino squirrel. Albino squirrels have vision problems and are at a disadvantage in the wild. Many white squirrels  are genetic colour variants of the grey species, as are the less common black squirrel.

I have seen albino squirrels before, here in Kent, but not for a while. This was the last time I photographed one, it was 2016...

I think I may have saved my best find until last? Well, for me it has to be a favourite. I love the longhorn beetles and finding one out and about in March was a real treat for me. This is 'Rhagium mordax' and is a species of the Lepturinae subfamily in the long-horned beetle family. The adults favour open-structured flowers, particularly hawthorn and umbellifers where they feed on nectar and pollen. I have already seen some thorn in flower this year, but thought it was blackthorn, rather than hawthorn...

And that is a wrap as they say. Yes, another update comes to a close. Thank-you for reading this far and for your continued support: I very much appreciate you being there.

I am entering my seventh year of writing for 'The Wealden' and my latest little article can be found HERE as well as on the dedicated page accessible from the button at the top of the homepage, where you will also find every other article since 2012